Ablation recommended for back issues: Anyone else?

Well, I’m just really amazed to meet people that are in similar situations to my own with all these surgeries! I have been very pleased with my hip replacements, my lumbar makeover at L3, L4, L5, and less happy with my cervical spine surgery, which was a failure because my bones were too soft and I had to have a second one where they stuck a rod From C3 to T2. I am still recovering from that one after a year and a half, but part of the problem is that I am very round shoulder and the rod is very straight so the doctor said it’ll take a couple years for my back to get in gear. Meanwhile, my thoracic spine is a mess. Not sure what kind of pain it causes and I am having major problems with either neuropathy/radiculopothy down my left leg. It might be due to a dysfunctional piriformis pressing on my sciatic nerve. Who the “you-know-what” knows! I’m very careful with steroid injections. trigger points are not harmful if they don’t put anti-inflammatory or corticosteroids in the mix so I do those periodically. My every day pain comes from coccydynia which has no resolution according to my medical team. This is all been going on for about 30 years and I’m 67. I think a really important thing is to have the best spine surgeon money can buy And health insurance will cover. I didn’t do the spinal cord stimulator either because I’ve read about the failures I figured if my tens unit isn’t going to do the trick then that’s an indicator. I’ve been on low-dose Percocet for 25 years and that keeps me sane and out of pain, allowing me to work and stay productive. I am so sorry of everyone’s misery here but I have to be really honest and tell you that I’m grateful that I can read other people have similar situations to my own! The most horrible thing for me is looking into the outside world like a normal person, especially to my cousins who I see on occasion and they absolutely do not understand what’s going on inside my body. It makes me feel like such an outsider! I’m happy to finally find others who are like myself in that important way!

Trust me..you are not alone. As I read comments from other people about their back issues, I’m truly amazed at how knowledgeable people are! As for myself, I only know I have severe arthritis in my spine. I hurt when I walk and that makes me sad cuz I love walking my dog! I’m trying as many homeopathic remedies as possible and will pray I get some relief. I wish you well on your journey and pray you find the relief from your pain.

After a bad fall I developed a compression fracture. I chose to have a vertebroplasty . This is when they injected cement into the compression fracture in the affected vertebrae. I am free from pain but at times I am aware of the injected area. I then chose to have an ablation in other areas of my spine. I have arthritis in my lower spine. That has given me some much needed comfort. I can have this done once a year and if the nerves grow back and pain returns I will have it done again. I am 78 and do not expect my aging body to be pain free. I’m very active again.
I do have the infusion on a yearly basis to strengthen my bones. For me I do not have any other choice. Good luck to every suffering with back issues. I hope this has helped.
Mary Jean Dennis

I have had Botox and ablation. Botox last about three months. The ablation last me two years. I have problems with my right and left si joint

I had this procedure done and I wouldn’t again. It helped only Little with pain and now 6 months after it’s back in full force but I know everyone is different.

@ramona51 Hi. I'm a 20+year veteran of RFA, due to chronic pain from MVA 30+years ago.
I've had good success with what for me personally is a very painful but life-changing procedure, without which I think I would be invalid. I've had good success. I usually get 5-7 months of relief. For me the relief surpasses the agony of the procedure and pain that I deal with when it's time for me to have another RFA. If your physician is willing to work with you financially on affordability,(one that considers people over money,hard to find.)try it, it has been a worthwhile endeavor for me.
R.

nerves being pinched - out of your spine - need fusion surgery if your discs are compressed.
If not do ablatia if they have diagnosed the arthritis is in your lumbar facet joints. It works AMAZING IF you have the right doctor doing it. I went to UCSD. The first ones lasted 12 years. Then they started not working and it was time for lumbar surgery. Only HEAT works for me and not PULSE. Try them both and sometimes they have to do it twice. It was wonderfully successful for me. My doc would only do a few rows at a time bilaterally so it took a few visits to get all the facet joints along the lumbar spine. I used to get severe front leg pain which was not in my legs at all - it was from the narrowing facet joints. They know (if they are good) which ones to target by where you have the pain.

@loriesco I have doctors in the twin cities who gave me knee, neck and lower back ablations. I can now walk downstairs normally but not up. I no longer have electric shack pains from my neck. My lower back did not improve and sciatic pain worsened.

@cdammen try going to a foot store. They will try things and measure. Try or buy some leather heel inserts. If they improve things -- fabulous! If it improves things for a few weeks then I will guess it is your hips giving you the problem! Also, if you were only at pain management and not a lumbar orthopedic surgeon, you still may need to see one to rule out your lumbar spine. Ablation only fixes stenosis and things emanating from the facet joints (squeezed nerves). It does not alleviate issues generated from your spine itself (like impinged/pinched nerves, discs that are falling out, compression. Sitting too much with a lumbar spine that is not strong makes the gluteus muscles and the like go into spasm and press on the nerves running through the gluteus. (ergo, sciatica) After years of hip and spine joint replacements I will still get sciatica during tax season!